Test System & Temperature Results

Test System

Testing Procedure

All testing is done at a room temperature of 23°C (73°F), with a 1°C margin of error. The coolers are tested with Turbo, EIST, and C1E enabled, which will allow the CPU to clock down to a low 1.6 GHz while idle, or clock up to proper speeds under stock and overclocked conditions. The retail Intel Core i7-4770K I use for testing at stock is set to load-optimized defaults with the CPU's voltage at a static 1.15 V. Overclocked, the processor is running at 4.2 GHz on the CPU and 3.9 GHz on cache, with respective voltages set to 1.20 V and 1.15 V. During all these tests, fans are set to run at 100% in the BIOS, with temperatures being recorded by AIDA64.

The idle test will consist of the CPU sitting idle at the desktop for 15 minutes. This will allow for a stable temperature reading that will be recorded at the end of those 15 minutes.

Wprime and AIDA64's CPU-stability test represent typical multi-threaded loads. Both offer consistent results, with one being a benchmarking application and the other a stability test. Both are run for 15 minutes before the peak reading during the test is recorded and taken as the result. This test lets enthusiasts know what temperatures they can expect to see with games and applications. Wprime is set to eight threads while AIDA64 is configured to stress the CPU, FPU, cache, and system memory.

AIDA64 offers maximum heat generation when set to stress just the FPU in the stability test, which will really push the CPU. This test represents extreme loads much like LinX, Prime95, and other extreme stress tests many users are familiar with.

Idle Temperatures

be quiet!'s Pure Rock did reasonable well at stock. While it did not top the charts, it did meet expectations.

Typical Load Temperatures

Under a typical user load and with the CPU running at stock, the Pure Rock places toward the bottom of the chart. Now, don't get all freaked out just yet! This is an entry level cooler, and it does reasonably well in comparison to the similarly priced competition. It beats the Cool Master Hyper 212, the default mainstream cooler of choice for years now, and is only 1°C behind the new CRYORIG H7. With the CPU overclocked, the Wprime results remain fairly similar. The Pure Rock is as good as the 212 EVO, but falls 3°C behind the H7 Universal, which is still a solid showing for be quiet!'s new entry level product.


The AIDA64 CPU stability benchmark has be quiet!'s Pure Rock perform as in the Wprime test. At stock, it beats the Hyper 212 Evo by 3°C, but it loses to the H7 Universal by 1°C. Overclock the CPU and the Pure Rock beat the Hyper 212 Evo yet again, but the H7 Universal manages to keep ahead just ever so slightly.

Max Load Temperatures

Pushing the CPU to the limit with Aida64 and its FPU test really stresses entry level coolers; however, the be quiet! Pure Rock does very well at stock as it manages to best the Hyper 212 Evo by 2°C to only fall behind the H7 Universal by 1°C. Once the CPU is overclocked, the men are separated from the boys, and the Pure Rock can't cope. It ties the Hyper 212 Evo but the heavy load on the CPU has it fall behind the H7 Universal by 6°C. With all three of these coolers being similarly priced, be quiet!'s offering falls in-between the other two in terms of performance.